~ Gita Journey is a straightforward, modern, contemporary, basic explanation and commentary of the Bhagawat Gita, with Sanskrit to English word meanings. Each shloka (verse) is explained in detail. An introduction to the Bhagavad Gita along with study resources can also be found here. A summary of each chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is also included. It does not matter whether you are a student, a retiree, a professional, a mom, a dad or a housewife – no prior knowledge is needed.

If we recall, the first words uttered by Arjuna in the Gita were as follows : O achyuta, O infallible one, in preparation for combat, position my chariot between the two armies. Arjuna uses the same address, achyuta, the infallible one, in this shloka. So the conversation that was initiated by Arjuna is concluded here. Arjuna says that the ignorance of his true nature is no more, since he has regained his smritihi, his memory, the knowledge of his true self. When one comes to know about their true self, there is no more delusion in this world. Everything is seen for what it really is, an illusion, a superimposition by maaya on the self.

There is another significance of the word achyuta. While we forget our true nature, and erroneously take maaya to be real, Ishvara is always standing firm in his position as unaffected by the superimposition of maaya. Since he is infallible, only with his grace can we overcome our delusion and come out of the cycle of birth and death, of samsaara. Removal of delusion is the aim of all spiritual teaching, as we saw earlier. All that remains is to stand firm, to be stitaha, in the knowledge of our true self.

From the standpoint of the world, Arjuna was convinced that performing his duty as a warrior was the right decision to make at this point. Therefore, he acknowledged that the teaching of the Gita benefitted him, and that he was ready to fight in the war. From the highest standpoint of the absolute, Arjuna’s sense of agency, his sense of doership, had gone away, once he understood that the self can neither do anything, nor can it enjoy anything. He performed actions spontaneously, in the service of Ishvara. In the words of Shri Shankaraachaarya, he had achieved the ultimate goal of life. He did not have to accomplish anything else.

And I am seated in the hearts of all beings. From me arise memory, knowledge and their loss. It is only I who am to be known through the Vedas. Only I am the author of Vedanta, and the knower of the Vedas.

As humans, it is not enough for us to spend our lives seeking out sources of food for existence. We crave knowledge in all its forms – knowledge of the material world, how things work, history, geography, sciences and the arts. We also crave that knowledge which is not tangible but is part and parcel of our lives – aspirations, values, codes of conduct and so on. Shri Krishna says that he is both the producer and consumer of knowledge in our lives. The sum total of all knowledge is referred to as the Vedas in this shloka.

The assimilation of knowledge goes through three steps. In the first step, we do not know anything, this is the state of apohanam, absence of memory. Next, we know something, knowledge happens, this is jnyaanam. Finally, this knowledge is stored in memory, this is smritihi. All these steps towards the acquisition of knowledge happen due to Ishvara, who is seated in our intellect, poetically referred to as hridi or intellect. So whenever we learn something new, or we recall something from our memory, we should understand that Ishvara is functioning as the subject and the object, the knower and the known, in this process of knowledge acquisition.

But that is not all. The ultimate knowledge, the entire theme of the Bhagavad Gita, is that knowledge which reveals the true nature of the self and its identity with Ishvara. It is handed down from a teacher to a student through tradition. It is found in the end, the conclusion, the anta of the Vedas. Therefore it is known as Vedanta. So the knowledge that reveals the true nature of the self is none other than Ishvara. In other words, only the self can know itself, a statement found in the Jnyaaneshwari’s opening statement “jaya jaya sva samvedyaa” – salutations to that which knows itself.

With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the topic of Ishvara’s manifestations which began in the twelfth shloka. The change in metre reinforces the conclusion. We learned that ultimately, it is Ishvara that provides awareness, nourishment, food, and the power to absorb food as well as knowledge to all beings on this. Not only does he produce all of this, he consumes it as well. If we truly let this statement sink in, we will realize that our false “I”, our ego, is nowhere to be found.

We continue our journey through the manifestations of Ishvara. In order to remind us of the ephemeral nature of life, Shri Krishna says that among those forces that destroy things, Ishvara is death, the ultimate destroyer. Death is closely intertwined with time since everything is destroyed in the course of time.

In the Puranaas, Lord Shiva commences the act of dissolution by performing a dance called “taandava nritya”, his drum called “damru” in hand. After dissolution is complete, Ishvara then emerges as the creative principle to begin the next round of creation. Ishvara is the “stuff” of the universe, as well as the energy pervading it.

So far, we have come across several manifestations of Ishvara. At times, we may find hard to connect some of these manifestations because we are not familiar with them. Shri Krishna is careful to not alienate us. He now provides a list of qualities that we see in ourselves and in others every day.

These qualities are : keerti (name and fame on account of performing virtuous deeds), shree (beauty and wealth), vaak (refined speech), smiriti (memory of events), medhaa (ability to retain information that was read), dhriti (fortitude in the face of exhaustion) and kshama (forgiveness in the face of sorrow). In Sanskrit grammar these words are feminine nouns. Shri Krishna says that Ishvara manifests himself as one or all of these qualities in people.